Improved refrigerator



J. YERKES.

Refrigerator.

Patented Feb 21, 1860.

Wzi-nesses:

a Pub-Lithographer. Wnhinglon. v.1;

UNITED STATES PATENT rFicE.

JONES YERKES, OF PI'IILADELPIIIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 27,255, dated February21, 1860.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JONES YERKES, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Refrigerators; and Ido hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad tothe accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

My invention consists of a refrigerator having four compartments, (eachof the latter having an inlet and exit opening) an icechamber, and acold-air chamber with a partition, the whole of the parts being arrangedin respect to each other and to an air-space in the outer casing, in themanner described hereinafter, so that the whole of the chambers may bethoroughly and equally refrigerated.

In order to enable others to make and use my invention, I will nowproceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improvedrefrigerator; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional elevation on the line 1 2,Fig. 1; and Fig. 3. the same on the line 3 at, Fig. 1.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throu ghout the several views.

The body of the refrigerator consists of an outer casingA and an innercasing B, with an intervening air-space O, the whole being sup ported onsuit-able legs D and being surmounted with a hinged lid E. The inside ofthe inner casing, as well as a portion of the under side of the lid, iscoated with plates of zinc or other suitable material.

The interior of the refrigerator is separated into six compartments Gand G, H and H, J and I. The compartment I, which is situated midwaybetween the compartments G and G, has an orifice j communicating withthe external air, and is arranged to receive the ice, which rests on asuitable grating 2'. Immediately beneath the latter is the coldairchamber J, situated between the two compartments II and II andcommunicating with the drip a, which is furnished at the bottom with theusual bent tube or with any other device which will serve as a trap toallow for the escape of the waste water, and at the same time preventthe air from entering. Each of the chambers G and G has a suitablehinged lid, has an opening 1) near the top communicating with theair-space 0 between the two casings of the refrigerator, and an opening0 at one of the lower corners communicating with the cold-air chamber J.Each of the lower chambers has an opening d near the top communicatingwith the air-space O and an opening a near the bottom communicating withthe cold-air chamber J. Access is obtained to both of the lower chambersthrough openings in front furnished with suitable doors, and eachchamber is furnished with a grated ledge f, on which to deposit thedishes, 850., containing articles of diet.

The ice havin been deposited in the chamber I and all the doors of therefrigerator bein g closed, the external air will enter through thetubular opening j and will descend through the body of ice, and beingthoroughly cooled by the latter will pass through the grating t' intothe cold-air compartment J, from whence the cold air will pass into eachof the chambers G and Jr H and H, entering near the bot-tom of eachchamber, circulating through the interior, and finally passing into theair-space C, from which it escapesthrough an opening 70 at the back ofthe refrigerator into the external atmosphere. It will now be seen thatby the above-described peculiar arran gement of compartments andcommunicating openings each of the chambers G and G and H and H will bethoroughly and equally refrigerated. It will also be seen that the bodyof cold air contained in the space 0 will tend as a non-conductingmedium to prevent the warm external air from detracting from thecoolness of the chambers. The object of the partition h in thecompartment J is to direct an equal flow of cold air to each of thechambers H and H and to prevent the air in one chamber from comminglingand interfering with the free circulation of the cold air in the otherchamber.

Iwish it to be understood that I do not claim, broadly, the employmentof a double casing with an intervening space for the passage of the coldair,nor do I claim any of the parts independently of the specificarrangement of the whole; but

I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent The upperchambers G and G, with their respective openings 1) and c, the lowercllam- In testimony whereof I have signed Iny hers H and H, with theirrespective openings name to this specification before two subscrlbd ande, the ice-chamber I, and the cold-air ing Witnesses.

chzunber J, with its partition h, the whole of JONES YERKES. theabove-mentioned parts being arranged in Witnesses:

respect to each other and to the air-chamber HENRY HOWSON,

O as and for the purpose herein set forth. I CHAS. E. FOSTER.

